Perhaps it would be useful to think about leadership in parts. That is not
to say the parts are independent but just think about the elements
remembering they are tightly connected like a system.
Leadership consists of a process,methods and skills both acquired and
natural. It is common to all leaders from street gangs to nations.
The process consists of 7 steps or 12 depending on how you count.
WHAT DO LEADERS DO?
Leaders provide purpose, align the troops and actions with the purpose,
encourage developing mastery of the required skills, provide a structure
and resources that fit the task, combine intuition and feeling with reason
to provide feedback and set realistic high minded goals.
THE LEADERSHIP PROCESS STEPS ARE:
1. Take the time necessary to establish worthy PURPOSE and GOALS.
2. ALIGN the interests of the organization and the individual. Show
people how to fill their individual needs by meeting the needs of the
organization. Involve followers in the pursuit of the purpose. This means
understanding and accepting the purpose as your own
3. Provide the RESOURCES required.
4. Encourage development of the PERSONAL SKILLS required. Demonstrate
personal knowledge relevant to the purpose.
5. Seek and Provide FEEDBACK for:
Teaching Progress reporting
Discipline Learning
Status of the person and the endeavor
6. PROMOTE CANDOR and real communication. Real leaders seek the facts and
truth regardless. Often leaders must hear bad news but seeking the truth
is part of selecting the right actions. Great leaders uncover the truth
poor leaders suppress it. Real communication occurs only when the truth
pays.
7. Use INTUITION to set REALISTIC but idealistic and high expectations
METHODS
The methods used is a very long explanation. Perhaps methods can best be
illustrated by looking at the extremes. Hitler had a vision and gave
purpose to his followers. German superiority and Arian domination of the
world. He aligned people behind that mission with rewards and extreme
punishment. He aligned families by killing one or two and sending the
message do not cross the third Reich or you will all die.
Roosevelt aligned us behind our cause Drive Hitler back to Germany and the
war is not over until we win After we win we can return to the American
way of life.
Gang leaders uses similar brutal methods to Hitler and Meeting leaders
must be more gentle but the purpose and alignment must still be there.
Meeting leaders use purpose like solve the problem, define the problem,
develop action plans etc. Theses [purposes and methods are worthy enough
for the situation.
SKILLS
Skill in the methods and understanding the process are of course developed
in the same way as any other skill with study and practice and copying
these around us.
I hope this perspective on leadership helps someone turn a fuzzy picture
into at least partial focus
This perspective was derived from my classes on leadership and the
resulting discussions about what leaders do and how.
Gene
Eugene Taurman
interLinx ilx@execpc.com http://www.execpc.com/~ilx
What you are is determined by the thoughts that dominate your mind.
Paraphrase of Proverbs 23 Ch7
--Eugene Taurman <ilx@execpc.com>
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>